2 April 2014

Question Time: Finance Tuesday 1 April 2014

Finance Minister Simon Hamilton said there could be "devastating" cuts to health service funding as a result of "not progressing with welfare reform".
The minister said that if his suggestion of a 1.5% reduction to every department's funding was followed "that does equate to close to £70m of reductions in terms of the health budget".
The Minister said this was the equivalent of nearly 12,000 knee operations, 10,000 hip replacements or over 115,000 weeks of home care for the elderly.

The minister also answered questions on the Driver and Vehicle Agency, the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) and vacant housing.